This summer, we went to a cottage with John, Jude, Paul, Julia and their kids. It was my first cottage week and it has been quite a while since last time we went on a trip and had some fun.   The weather was awesome and I had great time at the cottage. Thank you John, Jude, Paul and Julia for inviting us to go and I am really glad we made it!
Day 1 – Aug 30th
We have been waiting for the cottage trip.  Especially my parents, they have been cooped in the house in a foreign country for so long.  I am excited as well, but still the worrying about if Danny can handle the long trip in a car seat makes me a bit sad. Will he suffer on the road? He is not usually fond of spending time in the car seat.
Today is the day, Ron rented a mini-van hoping to make the trip a bit less uncomfortable. We went to pick up the mini-van in the morning. After we got back, Ron started packing all the luggage into the back of the mini-van. It was quite a challenge with all the stuff we wanted to bring. Other than our suitcases, we brought a big cooler full of food, Danny’s playmat, excersaucer. We even brought the rice cooker and the electric kettle and a thermos with us. We could barely fit ourselves in the mini-van because there was even stuff under our feet.
After packing was done, Danny was already too tired and he fell asleep in my arm when I was nursing him.  I had to put him in the car seat to go. He became fully awake when he was put into the mini-van. Since he closed his eyes for about 10 minutes, this means he would keep awake at least for couple hours until he was depleted again and crying for sleep.  But at that time, we would be on the road and there is not much I can do to help him. Just have to hear him screaming. 🙁
And he screamed. When we reached Yorkdale, we had to stop because he was moaning miserably. I wanted to nurse him a bit to help him go to sleep. I didn’t think about checking his diaper at all because I changed him right before we left the house. He wasn’t super happy after the break. And when we got back on the road, he immediately broke out. He was moaning for a while, I was wishing he could go to sleep, but it just grew and grew. At the end, he screamed so hard and his tears broke my heart. We were on the highway and looking for exits. The traffic was bad and it took us a long time then we stopped at some gas station.  I nursed him again but he wasn’t taking very much. Ron suggested checking his diaper. When I opened his diaper, I found a big load of poop there. I wasn’t feeling well already, after seeing that, I almost cried. My poor baby, he just doesn’t know how to talk. What a careless mom I am. When I was changing his diaper, Danny looked at me happily and calmly. Maybe he was thinking:”She finally got it!” Back on the road, Danny fell asleep right away. But he just slept about half an hour then we arrived at Elmhirst’s Resort. How I wish we could spend more time on the highway, so that my Danny could sleep more. Looking at him sleeping peacefully is the thing I enjoy most.
When we stopped at the reception building, it was past 4PM already. Ron went inside to check in. In an SUV right beside us, we found Paul and Julia’s family. Apparently Paul had just landed in his plane. We said hello to each other and as usual, my mom showed great interest in their babies.
Arriving at our cabin #22. it was a 3-bedroom, open-concept, side-split cottage.  With two bedrooms upstairs and one half-basement bedroom. It was quite a nice cottage indeed.  The bedroom in the basement has its own bathroom and a lake view.  It was also much cooler at that time. I took Danny down there for a nap while the others were busy unpacking.  Danny was very curious about the new environment at first, his little head kept turning around when he was in my arms. But soon he fell asleep, my baby was just too tired.  After I put Danny in bed, I returned upstairs.  The rest of the house was much cooler than it had been.  Mom and Dad had opened all the windows and fans in the rooms had been turned on. I went to the deck and in the breeze from the lake, I couldn’t help but smile!
We went to the pub in the main building and had dinner with the other families. Their kids were quite active during the meal. We left Danny sleeping with my mom and dad at the cabin.  When I was missing Daniel, I also worried about the future when Danny is older. What will he turn out to be as a little person? But one thing is for sure, we won’t be able to have a peaceful dinner anymore.   Eating in a fancy restaurant?  Only in dreams. Â
Back at the cabin, Danny was still asleep. Mom and Dad didn’t have dinner yet because they were afraid of making noise and waking up Danny.  I told them to eat immediately!! Danny woke up around 8:30PM, and he played for a while. With all the family around him, he was happy as usual. Ron said he had headache, and it might be caused by the crazy packing process…. we were looking for painkiller for him but he said a good night sleep should be good enough. He went to bed early. Mom and I bathed Danny together and shortly after, we all went to sleep.Â
Tomorrow we will start our cottage life!